Wayne County man wins $7M, largest Michigan online lottery drawing
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A Wayne County man won $7 million, the largest prize from the Michigan Lottery website, after listening to advice from his father.
“I have been playing Lotto 47 for a long time and would always switch up my numbers,” said the 38-year-old man who chose to remain anonymous, in a release. “One day, my dad told me I should pick a set of numbers and stick with them, so that’s what I did. I purchased an online subscription and have been playing the same set of numbers for a few years."
The lucky numbers, 22-24-26-40-41-44, were picked in the Lotto 47 drawing May 22 and the Michigan Lottery website indicates the purchase came in Romulus. The prize was worth $7.19 million, the largest prize ever won on a ticket bought through the lottery website, according to the release, although he chose a smaller one-time distribution.
“I saw an email from the lottery saying I’d won a prize, so I logged into my lottery account, and that’s when I saw $7.19 million pending. I was in total shock and instantly thought how my dad had been right!”
The win supports Michigan education, said Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli.
“It’s not just the college funds of the winner’s children that will benefit from lottery dollars," Shkreli said in a statement. "All of Michigan Lottery’s proceeds go to support public education programs in Michigan, and we are on track for a sixth consecutive contribution of more than $1 billion.”
When the winner visited Lansing recently to claim his prize, he picked the after-tax payment of $4.9 million in a one-time lump-sum rather than an annuity. He plans on putting the money into his children's college funds and in investments, according to a release.
“Winning feels surreal. It still hasn’t sunk in that I’m a millionaire!” he said.
Last week, a Michigan Lottery club claimed $842.4 million in winnings in a New Year's Day Powerball jackpot. The group's winning ticket was the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot and 10th largest in U.S lottery history.
The club plans to use the after-tax amount of $305 million to pay debts, buy property in Florida, travel and give to to family and donate some money.
A Powerball ticket worth $1 million dollars was sold in Grand Rapids on Wednesday but has yet to be claimed.
The ticket was sold at the Family Fare located at 5241 Northland Drive NE, Grand Rapids, with numbers 19-30-31-61-62, according to the Michigan Lottery.
